South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday urged North Korea stop provocations and threats heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula, calling for its immediate return to the negotiating table to discuss denuclearization.

"The North should realize that it is no other than its nuclear and missile provocations and threatening words that cause tensions to rise on the Korean Peninsula," foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told a regular press briefing.

"It should come out for denuclearization talks as soon as possible."

Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula as the US and North Korea have exchanged harsh words. 

In his maiden address to the UN General Assembly last week, US President Donald Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea in case the US and its allies are attacked. 

North Korean Foreign Minster Ri Yong-ho told reporters in New York on Monday that the US president had declared war against his country in a recent tweet, in which he warned that the North's leader and his regime "won't be around much longer."

The spokesman emphasized that the White House disputed the North's claim, saying that the US has not declared war on the North and that Washington is committed to realizing a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through peaceful means.

"South Korea and the US clearly stick to their joint objective of a complete nuclear dismantlement of the North in a peaceful manner and the US has affirmed several times that diplomacy should be the No. 1 approach to resolving the nuclear issue," he said. (Yonhap)